Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce The Big Apple, a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.

“The noblest of all dogs is the hot dog; it feeds the hand that bites it”

"The noblest of all dogs is the hot dog; it feeds the hand that bites it” is a one-line joke that has been printed on several gift items, such as posters and T-shirts. “"The hot dog. It not only does not bite the hand that feeds it; it feeds the hand that bites it” has been cited in print since at least 1934 and is of unknown authorship.

Educator and author Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990) is often credited with originating the line. Peter did include the line in one of his books from the 1970s, but he didn’t use the joke first.

6 December 1934, The Weekly Tribune (Moulton, IA), “Jokes,” pg. 5, col. 3:
Gale: “What is the noblest kind of dog?”
Mir. Strong: “I give up.”
Gale: “The hot dog. It not only does not bite the hand that feeds it; it feeds the hand that bites it.”

5 March 1935, The Bee (Danville, VA), pg. 4, col. 4:
Friend—What is the noblest kind of dog?
Northside Man—I give up.
Friend—The hot dog. It not only doesn’t bite the hand that feeds it; it feeds the hand that bites it.

11 April 1941, Daily Boston Globe (Boston, MA), pg. 14:
Noble Dog
The noblest kind of dog is hotdog, for it not only doesn’t bite the hand that feeds it, it feeds the hand that bites it.—Santa Fe Magazine.

Google Books
July 1942, The Rotarian, pg. 63, col. 1:
Hot Dog
It is said: “The noblest kind of dog is the hot dog — it actually feeds the hand that bites it.” — The Signal, EAST PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.